1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to school bus seats and more particularly to an injection-molded riser for a modular school bus seat frame which provides a reduced weight, high strength, module.
2. Description of the Problem
School bus seats are built to meet many differing customer specifications. For example, some bus seats must accommodate three point safety belts by providing a compatible upper back rest, other specifications call for a universal child restraint attachment equipped lower frame, while still others provide standard DOT (United States Department of Transportation) seat backs. At the same time customers can specify seats in different widths or heights and can demand various strength requirements be met.
Meeting such diverse specifications have required manufacturers stock substantially or entirely different component sets in order to produce seats. The need to supply such component sets has even occurred relative to completed vehicles that have been put into service where the vehicle has been moved from one state or municipality to another, based on differing requirements of the new jurisdiction. Modularity of the components, that is the ability to use one component to build seats meeting different functionality, can reduce the number of different components required to construct seats adapted to particular customer requirements.
Modular construction of bus seat frames is known, one example being taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,886,889 to Vits et al. FIGS. 18-20 of the Vits '889 patent teach a modular seat based on four major sub-assemblies. The sub-assemblies include a frame assembly, a floor mount assembly, a passive restraint panel and a seat member. The floor mount assembly in turn comprises one or two pedestals on which frame elements for a seat bench rest. In some embodiments one of the pedestals is replaced by a wall mount bracket shown in FIGS. 26 and 27 of the patent. Vits does not describe fabrication of the pedestals at length.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,303,235 to Fongers described a chair for mounting to a bleacher seat where the chair was an injection molded seat with strategically shaped and positioned strengthening ribs being inherent to the seat elements.